Goodreads reviews - Doctor Who audiodramas: Gardens of the Dead

The Black Guardian manipulates Turlough (still from Season 20)

 

Audio: Gardens of the Dead, a Big Finish short trip written by Jenny T. Colgan and performed by Mark Strickson. 

4.5/5. Goodreads review also here. 

An entertaining half-hour featuring a Fifth Doctor story with Turlough, Nyssa and Tegan, from Turlough's point of view. Some thoughts -

+1 Turlough is one of the most morally ambiguous Doctor Who companions, forced and controlled by the Black Guardian to kill the Doctor, in a similar way to River Song's arc in S6 of New!Who (minus the romance, although plenty of people ship Five and Turlough, and the latter is definitely very easily read as queer-coded and might very well have developed a crush on the Doctor during his time on the TARDIS). When I first wrote this short review a few years ago, I hadn't watched anything about Vislor Turlough apart from some references and clips, but I still liked his characterization in this story. He shows anguish at the thought of killing the Doctor, tries to resist the Black Guardian's control and ends up helping to save the Doctor - and also Nyssa - from the story's alien menace instead of leaving them to die. As for now, I've already watched near all of Five's run with Turlough, and yep, I really like the complexity of his character and arc, and disagree with the apparent common dislike of this companion, to be honest - Nope, must protect Turlough and all of Five's companions at all costs xD

+1 Nyssa has a more contemplative role than a proactive one in this story, although she also saves Turlough from the alien menace of the story at an earlier part of the story.

The dynamic between Turlough and Nyssa, the least explored onscreen, is at the centre of this story

 

-1 Tegan, however, doesn't do that much in this story. Nor did the Doctor, for that matter, as it's a story more focused on Turlough and Nyssa, but ah well, it's a shame when Tegan (female companions in general) is underused in the stories, because she's everything (and having to do it in stiletto heels 24/7, no less, because the costume designers be hating her 😬).

+1 Typical Whovian anti-violence themes: The TARDIS team (mainly Nyssa and Turlough) save the day first with a water bottle and then with a garden hose from the TARDIS, which is pretty epic xD 👌

-1 I didn't quite like how Strickson mimicked Tegan's voice, and there's only so many times I can hear references to Tegan's 'annoying Australian shouting' without being rather annoyed about it myself 😒 (no one disrespects Tegan in this house xD). And although there's no outright sexist content in the dialogue, I can also see this linked too easily to sexist and simplistic stereotypes, such as 'assertive woman who likes to keep in control of her life'='annoying woman who shouts and complains about things'. Usually opposed to the idea of the 'nicer, sweeter, and usually more passive and dumb woman' - I guess some people may associate this with Nyssa in contrast to Tegan, although she's anything but passive or stupid. 

 +1 As well as including Turlough's reflections on his thraldom with the Black Guardian and his times with the TARDIS team, the theme of the story is contemplative and melancholy, focusing on the people the TARDIS team has lost in their lives, and it was a lovely nostalgic touch to the action of the story.

The Classic Who Season 20 TARDIS team